HEARTBROKEN Conor Benn has lost his Saturday night fight with Adrian Granados after being hit with covid-19.
The 24-year-old son of British ring legend Nigel was set to headline the first of Eddie Hearn’s three back garden Fight Camp shows of 2021.
But the red-hot welterweight failed a test in the Brentwood bubble and has had to withdraw from the show and isolate.
The gutted 18-0 ace said: “Dear all of my supporters and fans that bought tickets to my fight, it breaks my heart to tell you unfortunately I won’t be competing this Saturday as I have tested positive for Covid-19.
“I have made sure during this camp that we have taken the correct precautions and abided by the highest health and safety measures to avoid this unfortunate circumstance but with the virus still being extremely active this is out of my control.
“I will be working with my management team, Matchroom Boxing and liaising with Granados to work towards a new date.
“It’s imperative that I get back to full health, isolate and stay safe during this period as I aim to be competing again in the very near future. I will keep you all updated as much as I can.
“Finally my sincerest apologies to everyone who worked hard to put this event together and Adrian who recently flew over to the UK to put on a good fight, soon come.”
Benn’s headline slot has gone to Nottingham featherweight Leigh Wood who is fighting Chinese champion Can Xu.
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The timing of the virus is particularly crushing for Benn as he is one of the country’s most rapidly improving and in-form fighters.
The father-of-one outboxed respected Sebastian Formella in November over 12 one-sided rounds to impress boxing purists.
And he needed just 80 seconds of the first round to obliterate Samuel Vargas in April, to remind fight fights why he is nicknamed The Destroyer.
